Pushing Buttons
by carpemermaid
Summary: Teddy thought living with James and Albus was going to be brilliant, even with Harry's strict warning that they not do anything to threaten the Statute of Secrecy in the Muggle building they moved into. After getting stuck in a lift, he's not so sure anymore. See also: Ten Hours in Absolute Hell.


_Notes:_ Written for a prompt game on Tumblr, this fill is for goldentruth813! Unbeta'd, all mistakes are my own!

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Hour One

Teddy grumbled under his breath and darted glances between James and Albus. They were hunched in opposite corners of the lift and currently _not talking_. They blamed each other for the state of the lift they were stuck in. Teddy shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his bomber and rolled his eyes.

Harry had allowed the three of them to rent a flat together in a Muggle part of the city under the strict understanding that none of them were to do anything that would threaten the Statute of Secrecy. That had all been well and good; they'd moved in without any trouble. They only did a handful of spells in the privacy of their flat.

But then James had been talking animatedly, waving his hands about as they piled into the lift, Al jabbing the button with his thumb. Without thinking about it, James had pulled his wand and cast a harmless _Tempus_ to make sure they wouldn't be late for the cinema.

That's all it took.

The lift had gone haywire, lights flickering and the panel going all wonky so that nearly every floor was selected. The lift felt like it was backtracking before it went down again, then very slowly came to a stop as if it were a train completely running out of steam. There was a residual shimmer of magic flickering around the walls of the lift, even an advanced looking ward meshed across the ceiling where the escape hatch was.

They'd gaped at each other for two minutes, James's wand still held aloft. And then James and Al had immediately gotten into a row over it. James shouted that Al asked what the time was, and Al pointed out that James had a perfectly working watch from their mum and dad.

Teddy glanced down at the watch Harry and his grandmother had gifted him with and pursed his lips. Almost forty minutes, that was how long they'd been sulking after their mutual strops.

"Why don't we try the call button again," Teddy suggested, trying to keep a level head. If all three of them got angry, they were sure to be at each other's throats in the small space.

"It hasn't worked the first ten times you tried it, so I'm sure it's bound to work this time. Eleventh's the charm, right?" Al shot over his shoulder before whipping back to face the wall.

Hour Two

"I'm starved," James groaned.

"You just made a sandwich before we left the flat," Teddy pointed out. He was leaning against the wall, eyes closed and breathing deeply.

"Yeah, but that was ages ago."

"It was an hour and a half," Al corrected. He was seated on the floor with his knees pulled up to his chest. He kept picking at a rip in his jeans, pulling threads until the hole over his knee got bigger.

James made another frustrated sound. "I wish I could just Floo grandma."

"Well, now _I'm_ hungry," Al said, voice creeping into a whinging tone.

Teddy reached out his hand and pressed the red call button to send for help again, silently swearing when it proved to be futile.

Hour Three

"Well, that's brilliant. We've completely missed the film. Well done, James," Al muttered bitterly.

"Fuck off," James said with little heat. After complaining about how he was going to expire from hunger, he'd slid down the wall to sprawl on the floor.

Teddy was the only one left standing.

Hour Four

"I'm so bored," James declared. He'd shifted around to lay on his back, kicking his heels up onto the wall and crossing his legs at the ankle. He'd folded his hands behind his head.

"We're all bored," Teddy pointed out.

He was still standing, though his back was beginning to cramp from being stuck in an enclosed space with minimal room to move around. He'd done some knee lifts and bent over at the waist to try and stretch.

Al was snoring, head tipped back against the wall and mouth sagging open. Teddy envied both of them for their ability to fall asleep wherever.

Hour Five

"Teddy. Ted. _Theodore Edward Teddington_."

"Merlin, _what_?" Teddy snapped, patience finally thinning. He should earn an Order of Merlin for putting up with his flatmates for five straight hours in the tiniest lift known to man. Teddy whirled around to face James, who was still spread out on the filthy floor. James had a bright look in his eyes and a smirk on his face.

"I dare you to—"

"James, _no_ ," Teddy said firmly.

Hour Six

James jumped when Al's steady snores abruptly ended in a snarled shout. Al sat up, blinking wildly. When he registered the surroundings he slumped back against the wall, the back of his head making a dull thunk.

"Still here, then," Al said, drooping further. "Not a dream."

"Nope," James answered, popping the 'p'.

"Hasn't anyone complained that the lift isn't working for them yet?" Teddy asked no one in particular.

"What if the magic's made the electrical all wonky and now we're in some kind of electro-magical pocket dimension," Al suggested.

"Ominous," James agreed solemnly.

Teddy sighed and finally gave in to sitting on the ground, pulling one knee up to rest his elbow on and letting the other stretch out in front of him.

"Wait, if the magic has broken the lift's mechanics, what if it gets reported to the Misuse department and dad gets wind of it?" Al asked, shooting a horrified look at Teddy.

"If it means we get out of this lift, I'll gladly face Harry for freedom," Teddy said.

"Speak for yourself, mate," James scoffed.

Hour Seven

Teddy pinched a long forelock of hair between his thumb and forefinger, pulling it just far enough forward that he could watch the colour change as he flipped back and forth from electric fuchsia to his usual shade of teal.

James was twirling his wand while he hummed a song from the wireless. Al was trying, unsuccessfully, to do yoga poses. Only, there wasn't nearly enough room for the ones he was trying and his jeans constricted his movements, limiting how high he tried to bend his knee to go into the tree pose.

"Ah, shit," James said suddenly.

"What is it?" Teddy asked.

James glanced up at him, shrugging. "I'm dying for a slash."

"You could vanish it," Al said, holding his arms out to balance himself when he wobbled.

"Yeah, but the smell lingers," James reasoned, wrinkling his nose.

"Alright, well, we'll just have to deal with that when it really gets to be too much for you to hold," Teddy offered, voice stilted.

Hour Eight

"…Fifty-six, fifty-seven, fifty-eight, fifty-nine, sixty…"

"What are you doing now?" James asked.

"Counting the minutes. It's been about fifteen," Al said.

James snorted. "You have a watch. We all do. We _all_ got watches for our seventeenth birthdays."

"And yet, you still used a _Tempus_ to tell the time instead of looking at your watch," Al noted, tone blasé. He stared at James unblinkingly for a couple of beats before picking up where he left off with his count without losing track. "Thirty-one, thirty-two, thirty-three…"

Teddy pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to will away the dull throb of an oncoming headache.

Hour Nine

"We should just accept that we're going to die here."

"Stop being so bloody dramatic, Jamie," Al said, unimpressed. "We're not going to die in here.

"We might," James pointed out. "What if the magic sorts itself and then the lift doesn't kick back on. We'll plummet to our death.

"Isn't there a safety mechanism in place that holds the lift up, though?" Teddy pointed out. He hoped he was right. He really didn't fancy crashing do death in a horrible freak lift accident.

Hour Ten

" _Are you three alright? Help is on the way_."

All three of their heads shot up at the sudden sound of Harry's voice. Teddy met James and Al's startled looks as they scrambled to stand up.

A moment later, a silvery stag leaned its head through the ceiling of the lift.

"Bugger," Al swore under his breath.

"We're fine," Teddy reassured him. "We'll think of something to tell him."

"Gun not," James barked quickly to get out of the responsibility.

"It's only fair if it's you, James, since it's your fault we were even stuck in here," Teddy said.

"Those aren't the sacred rules of shotgun not, though, dear Ted," James said, sing-song.

"Whatever it is, it needs to be good. Dad'll be so fucked off if he finds out you used magic in the lift," Al said.

The residual magic that had been intermittently flickering over the course of the day vanished and the lift doors opened to reveal that they were partway between floors. Teddy could see a number of legs standing on the floor above them. One figure crouched down and Harry's face appeared in the opening.

"Hello, boys," Harry greeted, looking relieved that they were safe. "Alright?"

"Yeah," Al said.

"Need to piss," James said by way of greeting. Teddy elbowed him.

Harry snorted and turned away for a moment to speak to one of the other legs. When he turned back he reached an arm out. One by one, Harry fished them out of the broken lift. After hours, they were finally free.


End file.
